JSU Men falls to Marshall in season opener

The Jacksonville State Gamecocks Men’s Basketball team fell to the Marshall Thundering Herd 74-55 in their season opener on Friday in Huntington, W.Va.

Avery Moore led the Gamecocks with 18 points. JaQuail Townser led the team with three assists, and D.J. Felder led with eight rebounds.

With only 36 seconds into the contest, a shot by Townser from beyond the arc gave the Gamecocks the first 3 points of the season and the game. However, JSU did not keep the lead for long. Two quick scores from Marshall took the lead from the Gamecocks, and Jacksonville State would not regain the lead for the rest of the game.

Darion Rackley made a 3-pointer that tied the game at six with 17:42 left in the first, but this would be the closest they would come to regaining the lead. Marshall had control of the game from that point forward.

Jacksonville State was plagued with poor shots in the first half. The Gamecocks could only sink shots 18 percent of the time compared to the Thundering Herd’s 50 percent shot efficiency.

The Gamecocks improved during the second half, but Marshall came out of the locker room with the same intensity they had in the first half. They quickly scored five points within the first minute of play. Felder was the first to score for the Gamecocks in the second half with a layup. Marshall was able to make a 17 to 21-point cushion during the second half.

While poor shooting still plagued the Gamecocks, it improved to 37 percent. However, Marshall kept a consistent 50 percent efficiency throughout the game.

Turnovers would be the death of Jacksonville State. The Gamecocks had 16 turnovers compared to Marshall’s eight during the last 20 minutes. The Gamecocks also got into foul trouble which sent Marshall to the free-throw line early.

The Jacksonville State men will continue on the road for their next game at Louisville on Monday. The game will be televised on ESPN3 andtip-off will start at 6 p.m.